"Maze Runner" star to voice Bumblebee in standalone film

Writer: Vong Phal Solysa

Bumblebee will speak with his own voice instead of through his radio transmitter
in the upcoming "Transformers" prequel.

5 Dec – "Bumblebee" is undoubtedly one of the highly anticipated films of 2018, being the sixth instalment of the popular science fiction action film series, "Transformers".

Naturally, fans are curious to know who will be voicing the titular character, Bumblebee, who has only communicated through his radio so far.

Well, it is none other than "The Maze Runner" star Dylan O'Brien!

"Dylan has that great quality in his voice of youthful exuberance, and also sort of trustworthiness," "Transformers" franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told IGN. "I think those are the two qualities that we wanted Bumblebee to have."

He added that test audiences have reacted positively to O'Brien's voice casting, saying that it is the "appropriate voice" for the Autobot.

"Since we were approaching this as an origin story, we felt that it was appropriate that you got to hear [Bumblebee's] voice," said di Bonaventura. Bumblebee has only been shown communicating through his radio in the previous "Transformers" movies after a battle injury rendered him mute.

Test audiences are happy with O'Brien's casting since his voice is deemed "appropriate" for Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee" takes place twenty years before the events of the first "Transformers" film. It follows the origin of the titular Transformer character as he meets a young teenage girl (played by Hailee Steinfeld) in the 1980s.

It should be noted that ""Bumblebee" will be the first "Transformers" film that is not directed by Michael Bay, who still remains on board as producer.

So it will be interesting to see how the film fares as it is being helmed by Travis Knight, the director behind the highly acclaimed stop-motion animation, "Kubo and Two Strings".